Coolant Leak Yesterday while riding, engine coolant leaked from the left side of my bike. I had to actually speed home to keep the temps below critical. When I arrived home there was no more coolant in the reservior.
I removed the fairings and put coolant just above the min mark, and went out for a ride to test, temperatures stayed low and no leaks. I stopped and let the bike get over 200 degrees, and I still could not find a leak.
My engine coolant was originally on the minimum mark when I had the leak, so i feel confident it wasn't because I had too much coolant.

There was nothing about having a leak and then not happening again after 5,000 miles of riding. If I remember, only something about it's normal and goes away when the seal around the water pump expands, but since my ride has over 5,000 miles I would imagine it wouldn't be pertaining to my situation. Make sure your rad does not have a small hole that spits coolant when under preasure/high temp.

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sounds like a gasket is leaking check your engine oil and make shure no coolant in there ,will float on top of oil and fog sight glass if fitted. do not use bike if so. it may be a long shot but look at the rad cap if also on the left. it may be leaking on the go when hot under pressure , change for piece of mind, money is never wasted on safety features .finally check other side of engine as leak may be running from one side to the other.

The 1984 Honda VT500 does have a liquid cooled engine. As for the fluid leak near the top of the cylinder head, it is most likely an engine oil leak coming from the valve cover gasket. Each valve cover uses a rubber gasket as well as rubber seals around each of the bolts that secure the cover to the head. Replacing these should cure the leak.

As for the temperature issue, anything within the white area of the temp gauge is considered normal. Just make sure that the radiator of full of coolant and the plastic coolant overflow bottle is filled to about the half-way mark. Use a 50/50 mix of coolant for aluminum block engines and distilled water.

The lack of power could be from plugged up carburetors (has the bike been sitting for a long period of time?). This bike also has a vacuum operated fuel petcock. Make sure the vacuum running to it is not cracked. Try smoothing the burr that you mentioned with some fine sandpaper - and by all means, make it fuel tight!

There is no published top speed for this Honda - but it should be able to reach about 90MPH on flat ground.

engine coolant leaked from the left side of my bike. I had to actually speed home to keep the temps below critical. When I arrived home there was no more coolant in the reservior.
I removed the fairings and put coolant just above the min mark and went out for a ride to test temperatures stayed low and no leaks. I stopped and let the bike get over 200 degrees and I still could not find a leak.
My engine coolant was originally on the minimum mark when I had the leak, so i feel confident it wasn't because I had too much coolant.
,There was nothing about having a leak and then not happening again after 5,000 miles of riding. If I remember, only something about it's normal and goes away when the seal around the water pump expands, but since my ride has over 5,000 miles I would imagine it wouldn't be pertaining to my situation. Make sure your rad does not have a small hole that spits coolant when under preasure/high temp.,,,

engine coolant leaked from the left side of my bike. I had to actually speed home to keep the temps below critical. When I arrived home there was no more coolant in the reservior.
I removed the fairings and put coolant just above the min mark and went out for a ride to test temperatures stayed low and no leaks. I stopped and let the bike get over 200 degrees and I still could not find a leak.
My engine coolant was originally on the minimum mark when I had the leak, so i feel confident it wasn't because I had too much coolant.
,There was nothing about having a leak and then not happening again after 5,000 miles of riding. If I remember, only something about it's normal and goes away when the seal around the water pump expands, but since my ride has over 5,000 miles I would imagine it wouldn't be pertaining to my situation. Make sure your rad does not have a small hole that spits coolant when under preasure/high temp.,,,

engine coolant leaked from the left side of my bike. I had to actually speed home to keep the temps below critical. When I arrived home there was no more coolant in the reservior.
I removed the fairings and put coolant just above the min mark and went out for a ride to test temperatures stayed low and no leaks. I stopped and let the bike get over 200 degrees and I still could not find a leak.
My engine coolant was originally on the minimum mark when I had the leak, so i feel confident it wasn't because I had too much coolant.
,There was nothing about having a leak and then not happening again after 5,000 miles of riding. If I remember, only something about it's normal and goes away when the seal around the water pump expands, but since my ride has over 5,000 miles I would imagine it wouldn't be pertaining to my situation. Make sure your rad does not have a small hole that spits coolant when under preasure/high temp.,,,

engine coolant leaked from the left side of my bike. I had to actually speed home to keep the temps below critical. When I arrived home there was no more coolant in the reservior.
I removed the fairings and put coolant just above the min mark and went out for a ride to test temperatures stayed low and no leaks. I stopped and let the bike get over 200 degrees and I still could not find a leak.
My engine coolant was originally on the minimum mark when I had the leak, so i feel confident it wasn't because I had too much coolant.
,There was nothing about having a leak and then not happening again after 5,000 miles of riding. If I remember, only something about it's normal and goes away when the seal around the water pump expands, but since my ride has over 5,000 miles I would imagine it wouldn't be pertaining to my situation. Make sure your rad does not have a small hole that spits coolant when under preasure/high temp.,,,

engine coolant leaked from the left side of my bike. I had to actually speed home to keep the temps below critical. When I arrived home there was no more coolant in the reservior.
I removed the fairings and put coolant just above the min mark and went out for a ride to test temperatures stayed low and no leaks. I stopped and let the bike get over 200 degrees and I still could not find a leak.
My engine coolant was originally on the minimum mark when I had the leak, so i feel confident it wasn't because I had too much coolant.
,There was nothing about having a leak and then not happening again after 5,000 miles of riding. If I remember, only something about it's normal and goes away when the seal around the water pump expands, but since my ride has over 5,000 miles I would imagine it wouldn't be pertaining to my situation. Make sure your rad does not have a small hole that spits coolant when under preasure/high temp.,,,

engine coolant leaked from the left side of my bike. I had to actually speed home to keep the temps below critical. When I arrived home there was no more coolant in the reservior.
I removed the fairings and put coolant just above the min mark and went out for a ride to test temperatures stayed low and no leaks. I stopped and let the bike get over 200 degrees and I still could not find a leak.
My engine coolant was originally on the minimum mark when I had the leak, so i feel confident it wasn't because I had too much coolant.
,There was nothing about having a leak and then not happening again after 5,000 miles of riding. If I remember, only something about it's normal and goes away when the seal around the water pump expands, but since my ride has over 5,000 miles I would imagine it wouldn't be pertaining to my situation. Make sure your rad does not have a small hole that spits coolant when under preasure/high temp.,,,